Church Check: Calvary Chapel Cary in Apex, North Carolina

Basic Church Information

Church Name: Calvary Chapel Cary Senior/Lead Pastor: Rodney Finch

Elders/Leadership Staff: See Staff & Pastors Here (also see Questionnaire for more info) Address: 1600 Center Street Apex, NC 27502

Phone: 919-367-9250

Email: See Church Contact Page Here

Online Services: https://subsplash.com/cccary

Website: https://cccary.org/

Social Media:

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/calvarycary

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calvarycary

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cccary

= YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CalvaryChapelCary

Church Specifics

Denomination: Calvary Chapel (see the church’s statement of faith here)

Preaching Style: Expository/verse-by-verse & Topical Mix

Worship Style: Contemporary Governance/Structure: Chuck Smith’s “Moses” Model/Pastor-Led

Membership Requirements: No

Tithe-Preaching/Compelled Giving: Yes (Listen to Sermons)

Financial Transparency: No

Answered Questions: Partially

Church Bylaws: Pastor Refuses to Provide (See Red Flag Section for more Info) Affiliations: Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, CA

Red Flags of Spiritual Abuse

1. The Roys Report Exposes Rodney Finch with Multiple Incidents of Misconduct & Abuse

Several months ago, The Roys Report published an article exposing a plethora of different incidents and behaviors of abuse, financial misconduct, addiction problems, bullying, and more at Calvary Chapel Cary. You can read the article here if you haven’t already.

It’s important to note that the abuse reported by the Roys Report is both significant and undeniable. It’s often very easy for those accused of abuse to dismiss claims from a singular person without evidence, from gossip or a tabloid publisher.

The Roys Report article is written with journalistic professionalism and integrity, providing facts, sources, and proof of each and every claim being made. While abusers smear Julie Roys and her work by calling it gossip, a tabloid, or attacking her personally, these are fallacious red herrings meant to discredit Julie Roys, but the article’s facts speak for themselves.

The writer of this particular article spoke to several former members and gathered dozens if not hundreds of pages in evidence, but also heard many first-hand witnesses describe their experiences in the church, providing witness accounts of the behavior, abuse, and misconduct at CC Cary.

The abuse and misconduct of Pastor Rodney Finch (and sometimes his wife) reported in the article are as follows:

• Child abuse (physical beatings by Rodney toward his own children)

• Drug addiction, lying about drug addiction, refusing to submit to drug tests, quitting a church-funded rehab program early after only two weeks, and asking people in leadership positions to lie to the church about his drug addiction for him

• Deceptive, controlling behavior

• Nepotism

• Financial Fraud & Other Financial Misconduct (No financial transparency)

• Using his position as a pastor to get prescription drugs from doctors in the church, sometimes illegally

• Refusing to provide the church bylaws

• Slandering & smearing former members & those who speak up about the abuse and misconduct

2. The Reaction to The Roys Report By Calvary Chapel Cary

The abuse and misconduct exposed in this article are significant, but they’re far from the only issues that point to abuse at Calvary Chapel Cary. The reaction by those in the inner circle at the church exposes the abusive and toxic dynamic between leadership and everyone else as well.

Pastor Rodney Finch’s son also spoke publicly on his Facebook Page about the physical abuse he endured as a child from his father, and in response, his family attacked him personally, calling him mentally ill. Finch’s son has further spoken out about Calvary Chapel Cary on his Facebook page, calling it “toxic” and saying that it needs to close its doors.

The Roys Report also references over 50 pages of complaints against Rodney Finch by current and former church members and staff, which has also been answered with a similar tactic by current church members and leadership: personal attacks against those who have spoken up, gaslighting, and even incidents of fear-mongering and verbal abuse.

These reactions to criticism and accusations of abuse are, in and of themselves, a red flag of spiritual abuse. Legitimate complaints against the church’s treatment of people, as well as practicing inappropriate conduct, aren’t (as far as I know) being answered with apologies, remorse, facts, empathy, or truth, but ‌with open hostility, anger, more secrecy, and more abuse.

I ‌observed several former members being attacked, insulted, and verbally abused on social media by Shannel Campbell, one of Pastor Rodney’s daughters. When one former member was asked, “what abuse did you experience at the church?” by Shannel, they described the kind of behavior they observed and the abusive treatment they endured in the church in great detail. Shannel’s reaction was to mock the whistleblower and their spouse, then she DM’ed the former church member and said she prayed God would “reign fire” down on them.

See the screenshots below for the full discussion, as well as the screenshots following for further online bullying from Shannel Campbell toward anyone that criticizes or claims abusive experiences in Calvary Chapel Cary.

This is clearly verbally abusive behavior, and using God to threaten and/or punish believers is spiritual abuse. I have kept the names of the victims involved in this interaction confidential for their own privacy and safety, since it is clear that many who openly speak out against the abuse in Calvary Chapel Cary become a target for further attacks from the church. The point here is, the treatment of those who have come out and confronted the church for abuse and misconduct has been abusive itself, and only further displays what these whistleblowers are referencing, thus proving their point. 3. Financial Abuse & A Lack of Transparency A second and very common red flag amongst spiritually abusive churches is the multiple signs of financial abuse, but Pastor Rodney’s Finch’s teachings on money aren’t the only red flag pointing to financial abuse here. While they don’t pass the plate, as Finch points out frequently before sermons, he simultaneously compels and pressures financial donations in several other ways, many of which are unbiblical and spiritually abusive. In one of the church’s yearly sermons on money called “The Truth about Tithing,” Pastor Rodney admits that there is no New Testament command for Christians to tithe, but then twists the context of Matthew 23:23 in order to claim that Jesus taught that we still need to give to the church. Anyone that understands the context of Matthew 23:23 knows that Jesus was talking to Pharisees under the Law and speaking of the Mosaic temple ordinances of tithing food and animals by the people of Israel, not Christians under the New Covenant of grace and love, who give freewill donations of money out of generosity, not a commandment. While some of what Rodney says is true, he confuses it with several untrue claims made in this sermon which are then used to shame and pressure Christians into giving money to the church. Not only does he perpetuate the popular lie that Jesus spoke mostly about money, but another claim that struck me as particularly troubling was at around 1 hour and 11 minutes into the service when he brings up Matthew 6:19-21. I have added “...” to show where I chose not to include all of Pastor Rodney’s words, not to avoid context, but to include only statements I find spiritually abusive or unbiblical. They do align with the context of his teaching and I believe I’m understanding his teaching according to his intent. But to hear his statements in context, please listen t